“When’s the last time you saw him?”

“A few years ago. But he doesn’t know where to find me anymore.”

Josh looks every bit his age right now. A fragile kid, abandoned by his father but refusing to lose hope. I don’t want to be the one to rip that from him, so I just nod. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do. But for now, I need to let your mother know you’re okay. I have to call her.”

“Why?”

“If I don’t, this could be considered kidnapping.”

“Not if I’m here willingly,” he says.

“Even if you’re here willingly. You aren’t old enough to decide where you want to live, and right now, your mother has legal custody of you.”

He grows visibly irritated. He stabs at his breakfast with a scowl, but doesn’t take another bite.

I step away to call Sutton. I unblocked her number after she left my restaurant last night in case she needed to get in touch with me. I dial her number and put the phone to my ear. After a few rings, she finally answers with a very groggy hello.

“Hey. I found him.”

“Who is this?”

I briefly close my eyes while I wait for her to wake up and remember her son is missing. After a few quiet seconds, she goes, “Atlas?”

“Yeah. I found Josh.”

I can hear rustling from her end like she’s hopping out of bed. “Where has he been?”

I really don’t want to answer that. I know she’s his mother, but I feel like it’s none of her business where he’s been, which is an unusual opinion to have. “I’m not sure where he’s been, but he’s with me now. Listen… I was wondering if he could stay here for a while? Maybe give you a break?”

“You want him to stay there with you?” The way she puts the emphasis on that last word makes me wince. This is going to be harder than I thought. She’s the type of person who fights for the sake of fighting, no matter what outcome she really wants.

I could enroll him in school and make sure he attends,” I offer up. “Take the truancy heat off you.” It’s quiet on her end, like maybe she’s contemplating that.

“Such a martyr,” she mutters. “Bring him back. Now.” She ends the call.

I attempt to call her back three times, but she sends the calls to voice mail.

“That didn’t sound promising,” Josh says. He’s standing in the doorway of the kitchen. I’m not sure how much he heard on my end, but at least he couldn’t hear her end.

I slide my phone in my pocket. “She wants you back today. But I’ll call a lawyer tomorrow. Hell, I’ll call Child Protective Services if you want me to. There’s just not much I can do on a Sunday.”

Josh’s shoulders drop when I say that. “Will you at least give me your phone number?” He asks that like he’s scared I’m going to say no.

“Of course. I’m not going to abandon you now that I know you exist.”

He picks at a hole in his sleeve, avoiding eye contact with me when he says, “I wouldn’t blame you for being mad at me. I cost you a lot of money.”

“You did do that,” I say. “Those croutons were expensive.”

Josh laughs for the first time this morning. “Dude, those croutons were fucking delicious.”

I groan. “Don’t use that word.”

The Risemore Inn is clear on the other side of Boston. It takes us forty-five minutes with traffic to get there, and it’s not even a weekday. When we pull into the parking lot, Josh doesn’t immediately get out of the car. He just sits quietly in the passenger seat, staring at the building like it’s the last place he wants to be.

I wish I didn’t have to return him to his mother, but I put in another call to my lawyer friend this morning after talking with Sutton. He said if I want to go about this the right way without her having ammunition against me, the only thing I can do is return him. And then, if I want to take her to court, he said I need to get a lawyer and go through the process.

Anything done outside the process could be a mark against me.

Apparently, you can’t just kidnap your sibling, even if you know they’re in danger.

I wanted to explain all of this to Josh in more detail—to let him know I’m not just abandoning him with her—but he’s so hell-bent that he’s going to live with his dad, I’m not sure he even wants to live with me. And I’m not sure I’m prepared to raise a little brother, but as long as I’m alive, there’s no way I can willingly leave him in this woman’s permanent custody without at least trying.

Until I can figure out what to do next, I don’t want him to find himself in a situation where he has no food to eat, or no money to extend their hotel stay. I pull out my wallet and hand him a credit card.

“Can I trust you with this?”

Josh looks at the credit card in my hand, and his eyes grow a little wide. “I don’t know why you would. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to destroy your businesses.”

I push the credit card toward him. “Use it for basic necessities. Food, minutes for your phone.” We stopped on the way here and got him a prepaid phone so he could stay in touch with me. “Maybe some new clothes that fit.”

Josh reluctantly takes the credit card out of my hand. “I don’t even know how to use one of these.”

“You just swipe it. But don’t tell Sutton you have it.” I point at his phone. “Hide it between your case and your phone.”

He pops the case off his phone and puts the credit card inside of it. Then he says, “Thank you.” He puts his hand on the car door. “Are you coming to talk to her?”

I shake my head. “It’s probably best if I don’t. It’ll probably just make her angrier.”

Josh sighs, and then gets out of the car. We stare at each other for a few seconds before he finally closes the car door.

I feel like such a dick bringing him back here. But I have to do this the right way. If I don’t return him, she could file charges on me. And knowing her, she probably would. It’s best if I just leave him for today and then as soon as the week begins tomorrow, I can make phone calls and figure out what I can do to move him in with me.

I know if he stays here with her, he isn’t going to have a chance in hell. I lucked out finding Lily. She saved my life. But I’m not sure there’s enough luck in the world for both of us to be saved by a random stranger.

I’m all he has.

I remain in my car as Josh makes his way across the parking lot. He walks up the stairs and knocks on the second door from the end. He looks over his shoulder at me, so I wave right as the door swings open.

I can see the rage in Sutton’s eyes all the way from my position in the parking lot. She immediately begins yelling at him. And then she slaps him.

My hand is on the door handle before Josh even has a chance to react to the slap. Sutton’s hand is now gripping Josh’s arm as she yanks him into the hotel room. I’m several feet away from my car when I see him trip over the threshold and disappear into the room.

I’m taking the stairs two at a time, my heart racing. I reach the door before she even closes it. Josh is still trying to scramble to his feet, but she’s hovering over him, scolding him.

“I could have gone to jail, you little shit!”

She has no idea I’m behind her. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her away from Josh by picking her up and dropping her onto the mattress behind me. It happens so fast, she’s too shocked to react.